That hasn't stopped rife speculation about the cast's pay packets for the HBO flagship show, however. Reports are emerging from Los Angeles that Thrones' cast members are securing deals that would see them paid even more than the record-breaking salaries earned by the stars of The Big Bang Theory and Friends.

According to The Express, main stars Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Danish co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lanister) are set to earn up to £2 million each per episode after signing golden contracts.

The extra cash apparently comes from bonus clauses, which will see the stars earning percentages of the syndication payments that come from the record-breaking show being shown in more than 170 countries. The stars will also benefit from payments from re-runs, with shows earning audiences of up to 23 million people during the sixth season.

This isn't the first story to emerge about what HBO pays its heavyweight actors. A few weeks ago The Hollywood Reporter claimed that these five – known as Tier A – had negotiated to earn $1.1 million per episode for seasons 7 and 8.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister Credit:
Game of Thrones

While considerably less than the $2 million reported by The Express, these pay packets would still be the biggest in Hollywood for TV actors. Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg, stars of hit sitcom The Big Bang, famously secured $1 million per episode after lengthy negotiations in 2014.